Chapter 3: Magnasanti
Applejack stretched cat-like, trying to work out the kinks in her back. Oh holy horseapples, those beds were a pain to sleep on. As she walked to the room’s tiny mirror, she saw Equestria’s worst case of bedhead. Farm life gave her the ability to fall asleep at the drop of a Stetson in order to wake up at the crack of dawn the following morning, and the inability to wake up when the bed was made from the congealed hate of insomniacs everywhere.
“Bless my back, one more day is one day too long,” she complained. “Rise and shine, girl.” Applejack’s hoof was already halfway to Fluttershy’s bed before she saw the disheveled mess it was in. Odd; not only was Fluttershy awake this early, but up and about before her.
“Fluttershy?” Given their own room was so small, it was not hard to discover she wasn’t present. She was out and about in the ship? Even more odd. A tinge of fear crept into the back of her mind. Where was she?
The outside corridor was empty, but the sounds of activity were still thrumming in the air. Raucous laughter echoed from the room she remembered being the mess hall from the quartermaster’s map. It was a good enough place as any to start looking. First, where was that hat?
Her internal chronometer told her it was dawn. There wasn’t much of a sunrise in the void of space, but the scent of juice, coffee, and eggs was enough to tell her it was close enough to breakfast. Sleepy, bleary-eyed mechanics and other ship personnel were all in various states of dress and garbs.
And there was Fluttershy. She was in a rather animate talk with a scruffy-looking human. Even more surprising, she looked rather content. And awful; there were dark circles under her eyes and her mane was in a desperate need of a good brushing, but she was smiling.
“Hey there, Fluttershy,” Applejack said as she hopped up onto the empty seat next to her. The hairy man and Fluttershy unusually and a table to themselves, but no shortage of eyes and whispers aimed at their direction.
Fluttershy blinked and smiled. “Good morning, Applejack. This is Mister Stanford,” she said rather quickly.
Applejack tipped her hat to him. “Mornin’ stranger.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Henry’s fine. I’ve been keeping your friend company for a bit. Have to say I was a bit surprised to find out we’re in the same boat. Fluttershy tells me you’re a farmer?”
Applejack eyed the both. Her friend seemed content enough. Good; she needed to get out a bit more. “That’s right. How about yerself?” Fluttershy offered her a cup of coffee. Not one to turn down a little pick-me-up, she gratefully accepted until she got a whiff of the contents.
“Agricultural engineer. I’m going to Magnasanti to do some fixin’ for OCO.” He took a draft from his coffee. “Depending on where they send me, we might be seeing a lot of each other.”
Henry offered his hand to her, to which the farmer extended a hoof. Not being able to quite grasp her limb effectively didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest, and he shook it with a firm grip. She could feel several fresh callouses on his palm, and strangely not many old ones.
Thump!
She jumped slightly at the noise. Poor Fluttershy almost fell out of her seat. The source of the noise was a tray brimming with eggs, bacon, gravy, potatoes, and other cheap breakfast staples being placed unnecessarily hard on the tabletop next to Henry.
“Mornin’!” the tan-skinned newcomer exclaimed cheerfully. He was several inches shorter than Henry and younger by just as many years. What was immediately recognizable was the same type of military fatigues that Sam fellow wore. “Wondered when I’d be meeting you two. Ship’s been a buzzin’ ever since we left the dock. Ponies on board! Given front row seats to Magnasanti and a couple o’ leathernecks as guard dogs!” He proceeded to stuff a fork into some eggs and shoveled them into his mouth. “Shcuttlebuhtt’s ahl I got fer fun when ahm on boafs.”
Henry and Fluttershy could only stare, the latter finally managing to cease her shaking. “And you are?” Applejack asked slowly.
The newcomer tried to swallow, only to devolve into a coughing fit. After a few pounds to his chest, he managed to wheeze, “Corporal Jamie Ramirez.”
“Oh?” Henry said. “What’s a marine doing here?”
Before Jamie could offer a reply something collided with his head with a soft squish. His fork clattered to the ground and he scrambled to remove whatever it was. Applejack could only watch as a very busty woman stepped forward, a wolfish smile on her face. She too had her own tray and was dressed in similar colors, although a much larger shirt to cover for her height and ample bosom.
After wiping the folded egg off his face, Jamie stood up to confront the newcomer, only to simper as he saw something behind her. “‘Bought time you both wake up,” a new voice added.
The woman sat next to Applejack and she quickly gave a squeak of pain as she was smacked upside the head by yet another person. He, a thin, wiry human male, sat across from her, glaring at the two soldiers.
“Sorry about that, ma’am.” He was perhaps the oldest human Applejack had ever seen with the gray consuming his hair as it was. Age lines creased his face and brow, and the scars on the back of his palms and military casual garb bespoke his occupation quite well. “Hope these two knuckleheads haven’t been bothering you too much.”
Fluttershy had already clammed up and avoided eye contact again. Well, no use being rude when the guy was putting his best foot forward.
Henry cut her off before she could respond. “CO?”
“Nope.” Jamie was smiling mischievously at the woman. Whatever was going on in his head was quickly put to rest as the elderly man smacked him upside the head as well. “Behave you two.” Applejack couldn’t help but smile. In no way was it hostile, just a friendly reminder. Returning his attention to Applejack, he explained, “I’m Colonel Ethan Sokolov and you’ve met the kid.” He nodded at the woman. “That’s—”
“Sophia Galerkin.” There was a slight drawl to her accent that popped up around her consonants.
“First Lieutenant Sophia Galerkin. Now, you two wouldn’t happen to be Applejack and Fluttershy now?”
‘And why would you be asking that?’ Before Applejack could complete that thought, Sokolov pulled something out of one of his pockets. It was a datapad like Ana’s, only with the metal back coating faded with time and streaked with repeated wear.
Sokolov cleared his throat, ““For the duration of your assignment, you are hereby assigned as acting military liaisons and protective details for the following person’s of interest: VIP Miss Applejack of Avol and VIP Miss Fluttershy of Avol. This assignment’s duration is scheduled to last no longer than one Terran year or termination of Alliance/Avolian contract. And etcetera, etcetera...” He trailed off, expectant.
Applejack remembered the documents she had in her quarters. They did state that the two of them would be gaining security staff for the remainder of their stay. “Yeah, that’d be us fer sure, Mister So... Pardon?”
Sokolov chuckled. “Sokolov, ma’am, but just call me Soko. Everyone does.” Soko reached a hand over the table to shake her hoof. “Please to meet you both.
Pleasantries over, Fluttershy automatically spoke the next question on Applejack’s mind as she met Soko’s hand. “Jus’ Applejack fer me, then. So what do you mean by protective detail?”
Sophia downed a glass of orange juice and pitched in, “We’re your escorts and security for your stay in Magnasanti.”
“VIP foreign nationals are automatically offered up to a full squad with an officer of at least the rank of Captain. The Alliance assigned the three of us plus our CO,” Jamie added. He was still eyeing Sophia out of the corner of his eye, but now that Soko had arrived on the scene, they ceased their troublemaking. “Haven’t gotten your name yet,” Jamie asked Henry.
“Henry Stanford,” he dutifully replied and offered his hand to shake. He had been relatively quiet, only watching more than anything.
Still, there was something that bugged Applejack. Ana had read their contract and also said they’d be getting a protective detail. Even Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle warned that there might be trouble as they ventured forth. Not to mention Shining’s warning about the city...
“Are we gonna expect some trouble?”
The reaction was subtle, but it was there. Jamie halted the cup of juice raising to his lips before taking a draft. Mirth and a vibrant smile crossed Sophia’s face. What got her attention the most was a group of men and women who had cordoned off a table for themselves. Each wore some type of uniform of such deep blue it was almost as black as midnight. A magnificent white stallion was printed on the back along with a patch on each shoulder. It was reared up on his hind legs and as he whinnied some battlecry to the heavens above. One of them tilted his his head to get a better look at her table, and as he saw her, his lips curved in a smile.
Soko answered her question with practiced ease. “There’s a couple other settlements on Argus Five, but Magnasanti’s a singular city and the biggest. Population: ten point seven mil. Violent crimes per year, at least last time I checked, was just under an even sixty-seven thousand per year. I’d be lying if I said bad stuff don’t happen, but that’s exactly why we’re here.”
“Where are you deployed?” Henry asked Fluttershy. He’d already nursed his cup of coffee into oblivion. Half of a bagel was in his hand while Applejack swore the other half was crumbed in his beard. Guy could probably hide a filly in there. Still she drew a blank. She’d read it several times before, but the information never seemed to stick in her head for longer than a few moments. The name was hard to remember. Luckily, Fluttershy came to the rescue. “Um... I remember it saying about a bay...”
“There’s a couple of bays in Magnasanti,” Sophia said before taking scarfing down a sausage. Wait, wasn’t her tray full when she sat down? Where did she pack that all down? Applejack’s eyes momentarily strayed to her bountiful chest before trying to purge the impending inappropriate images.
Henry, however, spoke up again. “OCO’s got a new facility going in Sector Seven. Bay area’s directly north. My money’s on that one.”
The lightbulbs kicked in. “Yeah, yeah!” Applejack exclaimed. “That’s the place a’right. Mah memory just ain’t what it used to be.” It was more than just the last year recovering from the battle, or even the year before that when Twilight vanished. More than just stress. Although nowhere near as old as Granny was—she was barely into her middle ages!—the weight of time was pressing on her back. She felt... tired.
“Well, you don’t need to worry your little head ‘bout too much trouble. That place is well outta the city.” He kept looking at his cup in disgust after each draft, but kept on going back for more coffee. How much had he drank?
However, his information did lift a little of that weight off her shoulders. Excitement, no matter how slight, wasn’t something she relished. “That’s good,” she said.
“Yeah,” Fluttershy added. It was probably better for her more than anyone.
There was still one more question on Applejack’s mind. Friendly banter was all well and good, and the four had been plenty friendly, but if there was one thing Granny had always stressed, although it was meant more towards bumping uglies than anything, it was always know who she was getting in bed with beforehoof. “So why’d ya’ll decide to jump ship and look after us? We’re just helping some farmers n’ growers. Can’t be all that excitin’. ‘Bout as interesting as filtering apple whiskey.” Sure, Rainbow had a blast drinking the stuff, but she’d sure as Celestia change her mind if she had to remove the crud that settled on the bottom of the fifty gallon tanks.
Jamie looked at the ceiling in thought for a moment before smiling and licking his lips. Applejack made the mental note to never mention she had a quart or two stashed in her luggage. Soko answered, “I’m here as a favor for a friend. I’m about a year from retiring myself. When the brass thought it was just one of you going, they assigned him and these two knuckleheads. After he got word that it’d be the two of you, he asked me to hop along for the ride to even it out to four.”
“Cap dragged me along, the zhopa. Concord’s been the boss for some time now. Plus I love Magnasanti, so a little less bad blood.” Sophia was almost vibrating with excitement. Sam and Soko together seemed to believe that Magnasanti was a somewhat dangerous place, even if they were avoiding it. This woman on the other hoof seemed absolutely excited to go. “Spent a year there between my second and third tour. Never had so much fun in my life.”
“Yeah, I saw the tattoo,” muttered Jamie.
“No swearing, First Lieutenant,” Soko chided Sophia with a glare. “They may not understand Russian, but I do.”
Applejack snorted. “Ah’ve heard worse outta Granny when she’s sleepin’.” Jeez, the bile that mare could spit in her sleep. She didn’t know what this “zhopa” meant, but she had a whole slew of colorful swears in her arsenal to turn Rainbow Dash monochrome. “An’ you?” she asked Jamie.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “What else was there for me to do? Pretty much the same as her.” he jerked his head towards the woman. “On the Cap’s squad, so I go where he goes.”
Fluttershy knocked over her glass. It was empty, but the bedraggled mare scrambled to pick it up before asking, “Mister Concord?”
Wait, that guy? “Hey, we met ‘em on Ana’s ship! Sam or somethin’?”
Soko’s grin was wide enough to consume his face. “That’d be him. He’d be arriving in Magnasanti the day after us.” The other two soldiers only groaned. Concord didn’t seem that bad in the short time she’d known him. A little curt and withdrawn, sure, but ten minutes at most was hardly enough to judge the guy.
“I kind of like him,” Fluttershy said demurely. Of course she would. The mare befriended dragons and bears and who knows what else. Fluttershy could get scared of anything, except when that dangerous anything showed even the slightest hint of acting “cute”.
“Cap’s alright. Better than some.” Sophia nodded sagely. “What about you two? What made you decide to wander into the big black yonder?”
The answer was simple. With a tilt of her head to Fluttershy, she said, “‘Cause of her.”
“We’re here...” Fluttershy hesitated slightly before continuing. “We’re here to help these OCO people with their agricultural knowledge. Applejack came along to keep me company.”
“What about you, bucko?” Jamie asked Henry.
The engineer shrugged. “I’ve been going from place to place for some time now. Work, work, work. ‘S really all I do.”
“Sounds kinda dull,” Sophia said quietly, her bouncing energy receding slightly. She eyes the man carefully, taking him in behind an unreadable expression.
“Yeah, but what am I to do?” He shrugged. “Do what I do or not? All I know is that working’s better than just sitting there, idle. I’d rather be doing something than not at all.”
“Fair enough,” Applejack said. Often enough she’d get that itch when on the farm to just get up and do something, even when all the chores were done. Never felt quite right, sittin’ still. “Ah’ve been meanin’ to ask you lot something’,” she continued. “What’s with that lot?”
She nodded towards the group at the far table with the patches. Soko’s expression darkened without even turning to see what she was looking at. “Them’s that Security group. Half corporation, have brotherhood. They’re contracted out for protection jobs and hired security. They do their job just fine—better than standard security grunts, anyway— but it’s when they’re off the clock you’ve got to worry. Trust me. Just... avoid them.”
“Gosh,” Applejack said sardonically. “Big ol’ city with a bunch of rapscallions,” Sophia choked back a laugh, “an’ jus’ us little ponies to go through it alone? Least I know no one’s gonna be chasin’ mah tail.”
Jamie snorted. “You really don’t know anything about where we’re going, do you?”
“All occupants, this is the captain speaking. Please return to your seats. We are entering Magnasanti atmo and expect a little turbulence. Repeat: all occupants, please return to your seats.”
She and Applejack were already in their seats and strapped in for the eventual descent. The harnesses were snug and secure and didn’t cut into their skin, but still felt a little awkward. All other species they had encountered were bipedal, with the exception of the feline Korg which were perfectly content with walking on all fours when it suited them. Sitting upright wasn’t the most comfortable position for ponies.
Unfortunately, that was all the OrC. Op. dropship had for them. Applejack had spent every possible moment out of her seat, if only to alleviate the uncomfortable pressure it forced on her spine.
“You’d figure they’d come up with somethin’ a little more comfy than these,” she complained for the third time.
Fluttershy leaned over to give her friend a comforting nuzzle. Getting strapped into the seats wasn’t that comfortable, she agreed. No harm in AJ venting a little. “Just a little while longer, Applejack. We’re almost there.”
It had been a rough two days, although it was more than tolerable. Fluttershy had only spent a day on board the Absolution, but what a sight to behold it was. Ana had spoiled them with her kindness, and with such a large ship to run around in. Clementine was smaller by far, only built to shuttle people, and in this case, ponies, back and forth. Quarters were cramped, and there wasn’t much to do other than mingle.
The room itself was fairly large, if an uninviting mix of grays and greens. Little more than a distended rectangle, every section of the wall was fitted with seats built or bolted directly into the wall. People were streaming into the bay via the rear catch, all in various stages of sleep or irritation.
The first she recognized and couldn’t help but give a timid wave. Henry had quickly found his own seat before he pulled out some device. He was tailed by an irritated Sophia and a sniggering Jamie. Soko was nowhere to be found. The two found their seats and strapped themselves in as they mumbled comments to each other. Sophia took her seat by a closed window seat and her practiced hands made quick work of the belts and straps.
“This rust bucket kinda reminds me o’ the stuff Big Mac n’ me cobbled together on the farm,” Applejack said, sliding a hoof across the floor. After having explored the Clementine and with a few questions answered, it appeared to be some kind of cargo ship retrofitted to carry passengers. What was once probably a cargo hold with the clamps to strap down loaded freight had been turned into a safe place for passengers to stay until landing.
Fluttershy felt something tug at her navel as the ship pitched slightly before stabilizing. One of the engineers sniggered slightly, saying, “Don’t hit a Mjolnir, flyboy.” The other hundred or so occupants, most of them looking like engineers, did not seem to mind the sudden maneuver. Her dear farmer friend only grumbled quietly to herself.
The Clementine shook here and there as the seconds became minutes. In a way it was kind of fun; it was like Big Mac’s annual hayrides during Nightmare Night. The other passengers were quite neutral towards the whole affair and endured the shaking with relative ease. Some were even drifting off into a fitless slumber, their heads rolling like pendulums on their chests. The windows, once open and now shielded, seemed to glow an eerie red from beyond their quiet veil.
There was an entire hodgepodge of noise in the air now that they were in the process of re entry, all hidden behind Clementine’s steely walls. The omnipresent hum of the engine, the dull chatter emanating from the hold’s current occupants, and the bass-like growl of the ship as it raced towards the planetoid created a unique, almost lifelike, presence to the metal monstrosity. Every hiss and groan, a protesting grumble, every shake, some prodigious leviathan’s unwilling motion.
Fluttershy could feel the pitch decreasing, the engine rolling back whatever great cisterns it possessed into naught more than a gentle hum. Now a new sound joined them, a steady scratching that punctuated the entire ship. Whatever it was, it caused Sophia to grin in delight. “Oh, I’ve missed this,” she cooed softly. She craned her head toward the blank panel that sealed off the window near her head.
“And another safe entry. We’ll be interfacing with a Hermes node shortly. Estimated time of arrival: ten minutes. Feel free to enjoy the sights until then,” echoed the captain.
The window arching slowly open reminded her of so many of Princess Celestia’s glorious sunrises. The single ray of light soon banished the dreary light produced by the ship’s inferior bulbs. The light always seemed sickly. Wrong, even. Here was something else entirely. This was a burst of energy, raw and untameable.
What she had expected... well, Fluttershy wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Laid before her in the tiny window was a planet carved from steel itself. Lights blazed from intermittent points, blinding Fluttershy with the onslaught. As her eyes adjusted she saw the outlines of magnificent buildings. Entire blocks of steel and stone dominated much of the landscape in one large, consuming mass. Easily the most recognizable landmark around was a mountainous pyramid structure that dominated several city blocks by itself. Fluttershy could see far off in the distance another pyramid stabbing at the skies. The tallest Manehatten spires could never have dreamed to reach the heights of this place.
“Welcome to Magnasanti, everyone.”
The ship pitched down further. As the cityscape was momentarily obfuscated behind a fog bank, a million little ants rose into view. Each one moved every which way in every direction possible. Only when Fluttershy caught the glint of metal did she understand that every little ant was a vessel or vehicle quite like hers—they came in every shape, color and size she could imagine, from the utilitarian to the horrendously garrish.
Soon the ship descended to eye level to the chariot-like things racing across Magnasanti’s surface and skies. The vast majority stuck to the group like a mass of steel rivulets parting around cyclopean boulders. Clementine was far larger than any other vessel she could see... for about thirty seconds. Some great leviathan of metal lurched into vision before dipping out of sight.
“The rocker boys are out!” Sophia squealed with delight. She craned her neck to look out the window and Jamie just rolled his eyes at the sight. Fluttershy could feel a deep, slow thrumming that rattled her hooves and teeth. Applejack had perked her ears, straining to find the source of the noise.
Soon that too faded away as the ship cleared the megalopolis. The pillars of heaven soon shortened into something more recognizable like the buildings she’d seen in magazines about Manehatten or Phillydelphia. They too tapered off into a large urban sprawl that seemed to stretch forever under the moons’ ruby and sapphire―there were two moons!
“Ah wonder what Luna would hav’ t’ say ‘bout that...” Applejack wondered quietly. Sometime ago she must have finally stopped fidgeting and enjoyed the sights before her. Fluttershy could only chide herself quietly for not seeing them—it was kind of a hard thing, er, things, to miss. Well, the buildings were in the way previously. That was something she’d have to ask about later. Once they got settled in, a good library was on her list of things to find.
The urban development soon gave way to dotted fields, plains, and small settlements before the engines began kicking in. The deep growl rumbled through the ship before quietly returning to its rest.
“We are currently docking with the OCO landing bay. Standby.”
Plains and crops soon morphed into a concentric ring of buildings with a large dome structure at the center. Fluttershy could only catch the slightest glimpse before the Clementine turned to hide it from sight. Soon the moonlight, as bright as it was, receded in the wake of a barrage of synthetic lighting inside the dome; it must have opened up to allow them access. What kind of building was this?
Clementine lurched slightly before the leviathan quieted. Even the high whines and groans she had usually associated with the ship had died.
“Ladies and gents, you are free to go, and have a safe night,” came the captain’s voice.
“But it’s two in the afternoon...” Fluttershy said to the walls.
Sophia and Jamie had unbuckled and were waiting for the duo. “Back on the Absolution, yeah. It’s night out here,” the woman replied. Fluttershy blushed. Of course, the moon—moons—were out. “Why don’t you two get your things. We’ll wait for you by the off ramp. They’ll have your stuff in the hold offloaded already.”
After a short trip to pick up their meager onboard supplies, Fluttershy retraced her hoofsteps back to the off ramp. A steady stream of people were coming and going now that they’ve landed. The metal halls had never been so busy, even during the early morning hours when everyone was awake. Each person still bore the same mix of types, races, and builds as she found on the Absolution. Now, however, she paid more attention to their faces. Now they were looking back at her, and from the increasing number of sneers, they didn’t like what they saw. They whispered under their breath as she passed. What they were saying was certainly of interest... but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t like what she heard. Applejack glared at those who stared too long.
Fluttershy flattened her ears against her head and couldn’t help but whimper slightly under the attention. Even looking at the floor wouldn’t block out their itching gaze. ‘Just breathe,’ she chanted to herself. ‘Breathe. Breathe...’ It was a little trick Rainbow Dash had imparted before they got out of Flight School. Fluttershy focused on her own breathing as she breathed in and out. The thrumming in her ears that had been her slowly panicking heartbeat steadied slightly.
“Great trick; can you walk the corridors blindfolded?”
Fluttershy squeaked and almost tripped before Applejack rushed to her aid. Sophia stood by the door with Jamie. Henry had vanished, but Soko had taken his place. After Applejack helped her to her hooves, she couldn’t help but take a moment and examine her new companions. Gone were most of the casual military fatigues and in their place full military gear and regalia. Sophia also had something in her hands and Fluttershy couldn’t help but wince slightly upon recognizing the rifle’s shape. She must have missed it, for after the visual inspection she slung it over her back.
The dock was a fairly busy place. There were at least another two dozen ships being unloaded in the dome structure with enough people to populate a small town loading and unloading. A couple of people, young and old, stood in groups dotting the dome, apparently on break. Some simply chatted, others ate, while some operated more of their strange devices.
A line of armed men flanked her posse on both sides. She flinched at the menacing sight before spotting what they wore. Each wore some type of exoskeletal suit and black, face-concealing mask. Each armored suit bore a stenciled white stallion at the base of the shoulder.
“This way, ma’am,” came a garbled voice. The mercenary wore the patch as well along with some type of rank insignia on his chest. Fluttershy looked to Applejack, who in turn looked to Soko. The old man nodded.
It was time to settle into their new home.
Compared to the amenities on board the Clementine, Fluttershy was expecting a lot less than what she saw. It was by no means extravagant, but it their room certainly had a lot more money behind it. Soko had spoken with an OCO pencil pusher for their suite keycards, but even that adjective did little to assure her until she saw it herself. Plush silver and violet carpeting covered the floor, even if the textures felt a little strange under her hooves. The entrance opened up into a living room with several squishy armchairs, which in turn morphed into a study. Someone must have the foresight to ask about pony accommodations, as there was an indentation in the wall where there was a much larger desk fit for humans that had been replaced with one more at pony eye level. A small kitchen was tucked into a small terrace on the left parallel to a hallway that led to their separate bedrooms.
“Nice pad,” Sophia said as she poked her head into the room. “Here; Soko got these off an OCO grunt. They’re your room keys.” She tossed a pair of key cards onto a lowboy.
“Have ta admit, ah expected a mite bit worse,” came the voice of Applejack from somewhere in the kitchen.
“Ah, shit, you should see where we’re holed up.” There was the sound of a scuffle and Fluttershy whirled around to face the noise. Jamie had tried to muscle his way past the woman and was now rubbing his sore cheek for his efforts. Fluttershy had a feeling her victory over the other mischief maker would be short lived. “Anyway, we’ve got to unpack too. We’ll wrestle some grunt to bring your luggage here while we’re at it. We can chat over breakfast tomorrow.”
“It’s not night!” Applejack protested.
“Yeah, jet lag’s a bitch,” Jamie’s voice quietly echoed as he walked away, leaving her with her thoughts. It was more than extravagant enough for her needs. Almost too extravagant to the point of ostentatious; she felt like she might break something as soon as she touched it. It reminded her of some of the overpriced hotel rooms she’d seen In Manehatten.
They each had their own room and Fluttershy’s eyes were immediately drawn to a large and horribly gaudy painting above her bed. There was a white canvas background with... honestly it just looked like a bunch of smudges. There was the basic amenities, so good enough.
“Not quite like home, but can’t rightly say it’sa barn full ‘o holes,” Applejack said as she walked in. Fluttershy agreed, even if it still felt off. Everything was all hard lines and unnatural. The scent of some lemon cleaner stung at her nose. At least on the Clementine the ship was colored by rough use and old age. It gave it a certain bit of character. Finally on Magnasanti, everything felt... blank.
“Applejack?”
“Yeah, hun?”
“Did... did we make the right choice? Leaving Equestria?”
Applejack stopped her perusal and sat down. She could never keep a straight face for the life of her and thus began chewing her lower lip in thought. “I left cuz ‘o you. You needed somepony to help you along and I wouldn’t be able to sleep right if ah let you go all on your own. Not right to let a friend hang in the wind like that.”
This wasn’t the first time Fluttershy had wondered if fate had gotten things wrong with Applejack. Each little strand, every choice and decision, weaving a tapestry that binds ponies—now people—together, was so easy to build, and so much harder to break. Something as simple as choosing which fruit to eat with breakfast, or what virtue to carry for a lifetime, can all start with a single choice and ripple for decades to come, to define the very being of an individual. Fate had bequeathed the Element of Honesty to Applejack, but there was always the nagging suspicion in Fluttershy’s mind that another suited her so much more. With herself, Fluttershy could see it; she was almost cripplingly kind to all she came across. But Honest Applejack? Everypony was honest to some degree. No, what defined Applejack was family. Once and Apple, always and Apple, and nothing was more important to her than them. Loyalty to the core.
Applejack sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Ah know ah’m not the best at this sorta thing, but ah’ll try. Ah think it’s good fer ya to leave. Clear the air and that sorta thing. Time back home was always good to us, but after... last year... ah know you had trouble dealing with... things.” She took a moment to think over her next words. “You know why you wanted to leave at all?”
The stallion told her to, of course. He was right; she needed to leave Equestria, to put some distance between her and the memories that just would not die. Fluttershy nodded her head, and her friend continued. “You regret leavin’?”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to say ‘No’ before stopping herself, stunned. Why? Why wasn’t she more upset at herself for leaving?
“Yes.”
“Well, why’s that?”
“All of my animal friends still live there. I lived in Equestria my whole life. Everypony I know is there.”
Friends, family, animals, for the crown and country. All loyalties pointed back towards Equestria, back towards home. The scent of fresh dew after the night’s timely chill and the first rays of sun on her face as the cock crowed. That’s where family was. What did this new life, as temporary as it may be, have for her?
A home, the fresh thrill of adventure, new friends at her side, and an old one to catch her if she were to fall. A fresh start.
Somewhere in her contemplation Applejack had taken off her hat. She hoped that was a sign the country mare was taking her question seriously. “We’ve grown up, Fluttershy. I... I know how it feels to be always asking’ yerself ‘Did I do it right? Why ain’t I givin’ enough?’ Ya can’t be a shield for everypony forever because it will grind you up inside. Fer one reason or another, ‘s time to start wandering out on our own. ‘s a’right to miss us, but you don’t owe us, girl. This is for you. Take some time to rest ‘n take yer mind offa things. Let me be yer shield.”
Bile rose in Fluttershy’s throat as the scent of charred Dratalli flesh came to the forefront of her mind. Applejack knew why she left Equestria. She had to. Applejack wasn’t a good liar, but neither was she. There was still all the difference in the world between running towards something new, and running away from something old.
“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked. Applejack had leaned in close to nuzzle her cheek. Warmth spread across her face and something warm and tingly blossomed in her chest. It was just a short and sweet little show of affection to cheer her up before Applejack pulled away.
“Hey, if you ever start thinkin’ about... things yer not comfortable about, ah’ll drop what ah’m doin’ fer you, girl. No matter what. Just ask.”
“...Thanks.” Normally all she had to comfort her during her dark times were her occasional meetings with the stallion. The scaled little beast of worry and fear in her head relaxed slightly. All was good in the world. Applejack was here. Henry and the rest of the soldiers were pretty nice. Even Shining Armor was coming.
All was good...
Applejack smiled as the invisible weight lifted from them both. “Now ah’m going to stretch my legs and hope ah can wear mahself out a little.” She snorted derisively. “Since mah sense ‘o time’s been been thrown in the drier with a bunch of rocks and all that now. Wanna join me?”
Oh, that’s right. It was night out here. Despite her own chronometer telling her it was past noon too, the emotional rollercoaster of the last few days had left her feeling exhausted. With a shake of her head, she climbed into bed. Before the hiss of the door reached her ears the darkness had claimed her.
At least the coffee was better.
The following morning or something or whatever—it was kind of hard to remember now—wasn’t kind to Applejack. Not disrupting her precious sleep cycle, a daily ritual she had preserved for the best of three decades, was woven into her very being by her rural way of life. Up at dawn, down at dusk. Coffee helped her to rise, but there was only one assured way to fall asleep quickly when her body refused.
And that happened to involve enough booze to fill a swimming pool.
She had happened to meet Sophia shortly after she left Fluttershy, the poor dear, asleep in her room. The flight must have tuckered her out more than she thought, even if it was only two days on a rickety boat. Henry was there also, or maybe they just found him later; things got a little fuzzy afterwards. Sophia sure was a chatterbox, but Henry shut her right up when he let the two of them in on a farmer’s tried-and-true pastime: bootleg liquor. Applejack caught the name tharra before everything became a haze of giggling, booze, and strange odors. And waking up in Sophia’s cleavage while the two of them were wedged inside a supply closet.
No matter how hard Applejack prodded, the woman swore up and down nothing happened.
After dunking her head under the tap to try and sober up and sooth the pounding in her head, the pair of them headed to the cafeteria to catch some breakfast. Something greasy sounded good, but breakfast itself sounded awful. ‘Food?’ Applejack thought. The instant wave of queasiness answered that question. ‘Maybe later...’ Why was her cutie mark itching?
“Oh, sweet ambrosia,” Sophia moaned. She had a cup of coffee in one hand and a tall glass of orange juice in the other and was taking alternating gulps between the two.
“Gimme that,” she said as she grabbed the coffee. It’d undoubtedly make the pounding in her head worse, but something strong was needed to get rid of the alcohol-induced morning funk lurking in the back of her throat.
“Not so loud...” Sophia moaned. “Shit, I can’t even remember what proof that was...” The woman sunk into her arms and and Applejack almost thought she had fallen asleep if it wasn’t for the occasional moan under all her black curls.
“I’ma gonna find Flutters,” Applejack said.
“Uhhh...”
“Don’t go nowhere.”
Sophia waved her off. Coffee in hoof, she wondered out the cafeteria door.
She had to admit she kinda liked the place, at least from a design standpoint. From what she saw that day and the scattered memories of the previous night with Sophia and Henry, the dome at the center of the concentric rings was one massive docking area used for shipping items in and out. Great trams shuffled ship contents from there to any one of the rings if needed, or even out of the building entirely. Engineering sections, botanical studies, repair and assembly, residential quarters; everything had a ring and getting from one section to another was nearly instantaneous via the trams.
The tram doors opened with a loud hiss that felt like a railroad spike to her head. She’d much rather spend some time nursing it off in the cafeteria with Soph, as semi-lucid as she was, but she needed to check up on Fluttershy and make she she was doing alright. Inside were some other early birds who looked quite surprised at seeing a life form half their size on the other end of the door.
“Jesus fuck!” a woman exclaimed as she dropped a box full of... uh, something metal.
“Hey,” she said plainly. “Forgot my ID tag somewhere, but mah name’s Applejack.” Actually, when did she get an ID tag? Huh, she swore she remembered something about it somewhere.
“We were briefed about Avolians coming,” another woman said as she helped pick up the little doodads rolling across the steel floor. With another hiss the tram started moving. Applejack could feel their stares but the current hangover was interrupting with her ability to care about the rudeness. The whispers were another concern.
One by one they exited at their own stops. The machine shop looked interesting enough and she wanted to take a few notes for her brother and the agricultural engineers back home, but the excessive noise buried that idea pretty fast. It was a quick trip to the outermost ring in the OCO structure: the residential quarters.
Memories of last night helped her find her way back to her own room easy enough. At least she was sober enough after last night’s escapades to not lose track of her room card. After a quick swipe, the door hissed open to reveal Fluttershy preening herself. She certainly looked much better than the state she was left in last night.
“Mornin’, Sunshine.” Applejack tried to give her voice as much pep as she could. It had the desired effect.
“Hi,” she said. And it was at a normal speaking voice, too! That was just short of shouting for her. “I’ve just got to run a brush through my mane and tail and I’ll be ready to go in a bit.”
“Here,” Applejack said as she put down her coffee. The thing was just about empty now anyway. Finding her own brush, the two of them made quick work of the pegasus’ rat’s nest. It took a couple more minutes to fish out some informal dress wear to preserve modesty. She still preferred to walk about au natural, but she was told that humans had a taboo on public nudity. She couldn’t quite place who said that.
“Come on; they’re servin’ breakfast.” Ugh, she felt disgusting even thinking about food. “Do you remember anything ‘bout ID cards?”
It turned out Fluttershy didn’t. Nevertheless it was high time to hightail it out of their room. Given the chance, Fluttershy would probably want to hold herself up in there all day anyway. Best bet would be to let her get some air whenever possible. OCO’s Sector Seven base certainly smelt and felt a lot better than Ana’s ship. That place felt like living in a machine, all blank and lifeless. Clementine had a little more character to her, but this place—the “Ring” she heard by a few passing technicians— was a few notches above that, even if Applejack still preferred the great outdoors. The halls, despite containing the burning scent of chemicals in the air, still carried the faint traces of home. Axel grease, the distinguished scent of flora and wood pallets, fresh dirt; with the hangover she could almost pretend she was back in Equestria after one hell of a bender.
Guiding Fluttershy to the cafeteria was no easy task, no thanks due to the tram. At least no one was on during the duration of their trip; Celestia forgive her for asking her to deal with Fluttershy’s agoraphobia in her current state of mind. She loved Fluttershy like a sister, but there was a time and a place for dealing with problems, and early in the morning after possible alcohol poisoning wasn’t one of them. Still, fate shined on them both.
“Consarnit, I forgot mah coffee.” Hopefully the cafeteria was well stocked.
The door opened. The cafeteria reminded her a lot of the one on board the Clementine, even if it was a lot nicer and so very much bigger. Viewing it out the starboard window gave the place no justice at all; the Ring was absolutely massive! Rather than having a single kitchen where no more than five can work without calling the place crowded, the far left wall was host to a large, rotating platform that cycled back into the kitchen. On it were fresh piles of breakfast staples such as pancakes dripping with maple syrup, fresh sausage right out of the frying pan, bowls of apples, applesauce, cereal, eggs, herb sprigs to garnish dishes, and all sorts of chilled fruits. Dotted intermittently in the huge hall were dispensaries to refill various beverages. Where was the one for OJ and coffee?
“There’s a whole lot more people here than I realized...” Fluttershy muttered. She had closed in near Applejack as if she could vanish in her shadow.
She had a point, though. The Ring looked little more than a lumpy bullseye from the air. Setting hoof down and exploring the place was the only way to give it justice.
Before she could give it too much thought, she spotted Sophia. She hadn’t moved from her seat and looked miserable, but she was perked up upon seeing the new guests at her table. Soko had joined her. Strangely enough, two others she did not expect to see so soon were animately talking as well. Shining Armor’s unshorn fetlocks were in motion as Sam Concord was sitting back, smoking his cigarette and finishing a tale. She got close enough to hear the end of the story. What was a Quigley?
Even Sophia managed to weasel out a smirk. The three of them belched uproarious laughter before Shining wiped at his eyes. “I got one too,” he said. “In my early years, I’d take the fresh recruits north in order to get them used to the cold as one of their drills. One of them was a native. Storm Wind was his name, and I swear I’ve never had a more difficult trainee in my life. He was a bully and a notorious brawler, and had about forty pounds on me. He constantly kept picking fights with the others, and was known for insubordination.
“One day he just snapped. It was in the middle of a blizzard and I refused to call off training for the day. It was cold, wet, and I had a few tents of trainees that were whining behind my back. Everypony was miserable.” Shining shakes his head sadly, although no one had trouble seeing the grin he was trying to hide. “He just had to open his mouth. He said, ‘This is a load of trash, sir. If I was your officer, I wouldn’t let you treat us this way.’”
Shining’s grinned finally cracked behind his muzzle. Sam gave a toothy smile, smoke billowing out between his teeth and giving him the visage of some beast clothed in the darkness. “Well, I couldn’t have that now, could I? I originally thought about tossing him in the brig to rot, but that’d only avoid the problem, not solve it. So I took him out back and told him to think of himself as a captain for the next few minutes...”
Soko snorted loudly. “I like you already.”
Sam prompted Shining to continue his retelling to which, as any stallion in a story-telling dick-measuring contest would agree, was of course what he did. “My lieutenant wasn’t all that happy about it, but I told her to shut it just so we could get it over with. It was a little too cold out after all, so we began. In short, I beat the crap out of him until he thought he got it in his head who was really in charge. I asked him, ‘Now, what do you have to say?’
“‘I’d like to be demoted and assigned to latrine duty, sir.’”
“Not a chance; no dipshit in boot ever volunteers for latrine duty,” Sophia said through her giggles, although it was tough to hear her past Sam and Soko’s laughter.
“I’m serious; he asked to be demoted and assigned to latrine duty. Never heard a word of lip around him for the rest of winter training,” Shining replied smugly.
By then Applejack and Fluttershy had found their way to the table. “Hello, Samuel,” Fluttershy said shyly. Applejack hopped onto the seat across from Sophia with Fluttershy by her side.
“Look who decided to get up,” said Soko. Like Applejack, he settled on coffee to perk himself up. In between puffs of smoke Sam was drinking... cranberry juice?
“Don’t give me lip; it was two in the afternoon before I fell asleep.” Orange juice graced her lips as she poured half of her glass down her throat. She blinked. Delicious! It was nothing like the Clementine’s awful selecting of food and beverages. This actually tasted home-grown, if a little off. Different orange breed, most likely. Did they harvest this all from their own crops to feed employees? Not a bad employee benefit.
Fluttershy had gathered herself a tray of assorted fruits and cereal. Upon one look at her, Sophia said, “You’re looking better.”
“Um huh,” she said after eating a peeled tangerine. “I got some rest and that helped.”
“Must be a lot to take in, all this,” Sam said, giving the room a wayward brandish with his arm. Soko had said he was a captain. In fact, Soko himself was a colonel, and yet none of them were formally dressed. She was never one to see an enlisted stallion, or human for that matter, out of some sort of military regalia. Then again, the armed forces never made it a habit to visit country bumpkins like herself all that often. Seeing them in plain grays and blacks, even with Shining Armor in a casual red and gold dress uniform, still felt strange. Hell, even being clothed herself was strange, so it wasn’t as if the weirdness was going one way now.
“I’ll manage,” Applejack said.
Fluttershy had busied herself with another tangerine before saying, “Applejack’s been helping me out. I’m... not good with crowds, but with her I can deal with anything.” Fluttershy offered her a friendly smile, which she returned.
“Now what are you doin’ here, Shining? Thought you had some work to do off somewhere; big ol’ city and you end up here?” Applejack interjected.
“I asked Miss Arias if I could come along with Concord. I’m meeting with the Mayor later this morning, so I changed flights in order to get to see you two a little before I get to work.”
“What are you here for exactly?” Soko asked.
“An exchange, mostly. The Alliance started a cultural exchange program with the Equestrian nobility. In return for certain technologies, they’re sending specialists in magic for various tasks. I’m here to ward nine buildings here in Magnasanti against Dratalli magic.”
Well that doesn’t narrow it down. If there were over ten million people living in just one city alone, Shining was going to be wandering the streets for a while. Sam had other ideas: “So you meetin’ some brass for the exchange?”
Shining nodded. “Ambassador Dieter.”
“The Muses will be happy,” Sophia added.
Before Applejack could ask what that meant, Sam lifted up a case at his feet and set it on the table. “Before ah forget, Ana got you two gals a present. Asked me to give it to ya when ah found ya.”
Shrugging, Applejack nodded. Ana was nice enough, but what could she possibly have sent with Sam? She didn’t think she made that big of an impression. Then again, it did sound like the two of them, plus Shining, were the first ponies the woman had met.
It looked slightly smaller than a suitcase, but was made out of tough plastic that looked like it could get run over by a tractor and come out fine. He popped the clasps open with a flick. Nestled in the soft foam were two pairs of devices. The first looked like some sort of clip-on, while the other was a wide black plastic loop that ended in a square piece of plastic so transparent she could barely see it. Directly behind the glass was a tiny prong that fed into the plastic loop, which in turn fed into a series of minute mechanical circuits.
“A bit o’ free tech by the woman herself. Zenith’s xLinx V12 Tactical Headset, specially modified for Avolian equines by Ana herself.”
“Alright... now what is it?”
Sophia sniggered into her arms. Sam just smirked as he explained. “Communication. Phone call. This lets you communicate with any available device on the network that’s capable. Wanna give me or Flutters a call? You can do so no matter where you are.” Sam took a gulp from his glass. “Plus it doubles as your electronic thumbprint.” He looked down. “Er, hoofprint. Direct line to your bank account, means of paying for services, and broadcasting your own personal network. One-size fits all package for operatin’ in the our version of the modern world.”
“And a smashing fashion statement.”
Soko and Sam both gave Sophia a dead-eyed look. “Fine, fine, fine; I’ll wait to talk when the hangover’s gone.” And she slunk back into her arms and mumbled quietly. Applejack picked up her glass, only to realize it was already empty.
“Frak.”
“Applejack...” Fluttershy chided.
Applejack just rolled her eyes. “Give me a bit. Haven’t quite sobered up all the way.”
“Who’d a guessed?”
The voice came from not from the missing Jamie, but from, as Fluttershy’s smile confirmed, Henry. The man had his own tray of various breakfast staples and sat across from Fluttershy. He gave the pile of sweat and shame that was Sophia only a single glance before dropping a pair of lanyards with both Applejack’s and Fluttershy’s ID on them.
“Hey, thanks! Couldn’t rightly place where ah left ‘em.”
“I... thought I gave them to you last night.” Sophia rolled her head to eye Henry. “So why do you—”
“Did—”
“I saw nothing,” he said simply before taking a nice long drink to stifle any attempt to get a response out of him.
Fluttershy looked confused, while Sophia tried to sink her head through table table and wedge herself deep into the earth’s crust. “Not something I wanted to think about this early in the morning,” Soko said plainly.
“The hell did you do?” Sam asked sharply to Sophia.
That jolted the woman upright. “I swear, Cap. I met Applejack in the corridors while she was taking a walk and Henry took us both back for some late night drinking in Engineering. I don’t remember anything else.”
“Me neither,” Applejack added.
“What were you two drinking?” Soko asked, looking at the three Inebriati.
Henry was the first to answer. Brushing some donut crumbs stuck to his hands across his overalls, he said, “Homebrewed tharra. All across Magnasnati, OCO has a surplus of sugarcane. A lot of the farmers swipe a bit and mix up a batch every now and then. I’ve got a couple connections so I asked for a bit and cracked some open last night. I was out first, so what happened afterwards...” he shrugged. “Beats me. Didn’t wake me up, so nothing happened is my guess.”
Well she owed Henry one for the attempted save. Sam looked like he was about to start shooting lasers out of his eyes. Really, she could remember nothing about last night after her talk with Fluttershy, and that meant she had a great time. Speaking of Fluttershy, the girl’s blush had rendered her silent. “Sam, take it easy on the girl. We jus’ fell asleep was all. I’m not mad about it,” she looked to Sophia, who adamantly shook her head, “an’ neither is Soph. It jus’ kinda happened.” Yeah, that excuse never worked on Gran either, but Sophia and Henry were both backing her up.
Shining Armor had been remarkably quiet throughout the entire exchange. Only now he tapped Sam on the shoulder to get his attention. Giving one last glare to Sophia, he leaned down to hear what he had to say. Applejack kept her ears as erect as she could to hear the conversation. Apparently she was the only one uninterested in what the knight had to say. On seeing her, he narrowed his gaze. Sheepishly, she withdrew.
After a minute the two parted. Sam still didn’t look happy, but at least the look that made Sophia shrink under his gaze didn’t have nearly as much promise of impending doom. With a sigh to clear his thoughts, he turned on Applejack, “I’m sorry Ma’am for the fuss. I’ll have a word with her later.”
“Easy, Sam; ‘s ju’ Applejack. ‘n don’t worry about it, really.” She waved him off. He nodded, thankfully letting her drop the matter. It’s not that anything too forward happened. At least not that she remembered. She wasn’t all that sore, so even if Sophia did give her a little late night snack, it couldn’t have been very filling. Hmmm... cutie mark was still itchy, though.
“Anyway!” she said a little too loud, trying to surreptitiously slide her dress a little more over her flanks. “I really don’t know much about you lot. If we’re gonna be spending time together,” certain images came to mind, “w-why don’t you tell me a bit ‘bout yerselves?”
“Earth, born and raised,” Soko began. “Sammy here’s got the military family, but my pedigree’s a bunch of craftsman. Shipbuilders, mostly. Uncle was navigation, as was dad and my two brothers. Mother was a ship’s medic, but her sister made flight recorders. I spent half my life on them ships, so I signed my papers as soon as came of age and joined the navy. Pops wasn’t thrilled, but what could he do?” He shrugged. “His fault for shoving ship building down my throat for almost two decades.”
“I came from the rich jackass part of the Reach,” said Sophia. She had pulled a bottle of something from her pants pocket and downed a couple pills. “Always part of of the upper crust. Born to lead! Born to serve!” It sounded like she tried to be bombastic, but her voice ended up tapering into a dull rasp. “I didn’t know if I wanted to be a rule maker or rule breaker. I never had a mind for politics and social climbing. Oh, I tried my hand at it. That turned out well. Heh.” Now there was a smirk worth a thousand words. “Tried my hand at the marines at twenty two and I worked my way through sniper training. Been in the game ever since.”
“Sounds like fun,” Applejack said dryly.
“If it’s anything like what I made Storm Wind and his comrades go through... no. No, it’s not,” Shining added.
“Not sure how ponies do it, Applejack, but for those with two legs instead of four, the military tries to break recruits,” said Henry quietly.
“What?” exclaimed Fluttershy. “Why?”
“See if they fold,” Henry added. He dunked his last donut in his coffee and took a big bite of its. Applejack was sure he’d need a vacuum for what he collected in his beard. “What use is a soldier if they crack under the first sign of pressure? You need to weed out the weak ones early before they face a situation where their failure does real damage.”
“You know quite a bit about the military for a civilian,” Shining said. “What’s your story?”
“Eh, nothin’ you can’t pick up on with enough time. As for me, no idea. Name’s Henry,” he offered to the stallion and then Sam. “I can trace myself back to a Heilengiest hospital taking refugees after planetoids in the Theta Cluster were attacked. Social Services took me in after that, and I just picked up things as I got shipped from place to place. Eventually I started playing with the things I found and, well, worked myself to where I am now.”
How could he speak so casually about losing his home—his parents!—like that? “I’m sorry fer—”
Henry was already cutting her short before the first word left her lips. “Don’t be. Can’t rightly miss what I never knew. Just a lad back then. Even smaller than you right now.” Still, his eyes were... cold. He nodded to Sam. “What about you, soldier?”
Good question, even though the alarm bells in Applejack’s head were going off at what Henry had just said. But he didn’t want to talk about so reluctantly she acquiesced. “Yeah, old timer, what planet are you from?”
He snorted. “Texas.”
Sam snapped the xLinx case closed and put it back under the table. “Earth boy, born and raised. Been in the marines ever since ah turned of age. Call it stupidity, call it human pride; whatever it be, ah jumped ship at dawn.”
Applejack waited for a couple of seconds for him to continue. After the occasional puff of his cig, it became abundantly clear that wasn’t going to be an option for the day. ‘These humans...’ At least two of the four gave pretty decent transparency.
Sam must have picked up on something in her face. “Not really much to tell. Got plenty ‘o war stories, but that’s about it.”
“What about Jamie?” Fluttershy asked. Yeah, what about the little runt that dropped off the face of the planet?
Sophia snorted. “God knows what he’d say now. He changes it every time someone asks him.”
“Bet twenty credits he’ll bring up the rancor story again,” said Soko.
“I’ll take that bet.” Sam bumped his fist against his comrade’s. Turning to Applejack, he said, “I’ll give it to you straight if he don’t.”
Sam got up and stretched. He was still freakishly tall. Well, he was the tallest human Applejack had ever seen so far. “I’ve still got some paperwork to fill out, and no doubt you two still need to get your itineraries finalized. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Soko said with a wave goodbye.
“Can we...” Sophia’s voice was soft enough to be drowned in the light din of voices in the cafeteria.
Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we can escort them into the city after a bit. Providing Miss Fluttershy and Applejack so desire, of course.”
Applejack didn’t much mind. What could humans do when they put their mind to it. “Don’t see why not.”
“Viva la Magnasanti!”
“That’s not how you speak Spanish.”
“Shut it, Soko.”
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